Dieses Blog durchsuchen

Artistic licence or why i trust no one

Where academic research into iconography and art history finds its expression. Otherwise being an outlet for various rants about misrepresenting and rewriting of ancient Near Eastern text and image in modern western scholarship and media.

Posts

Prunk, Prestige und Propaganda: Aegyptiaca Vortrag Juni 2018, Ägyptologisches Institut, Universität Leipzig (Presentation of my doctoral research given to the general public in Leipzig. It is in German, and I make no apologies, there is a conference paper previously published in English, look it up via the reference below or warm up Google translate)

As someone who lurks on internet pages devoted to Egyptian archaeology it is possible to brush against the less attractive side of the fan club … repeatedly … It is equally possible to find another academic in a discussion with a member of this club. This is basically how I came across the magic mushroom theory about ancient Egyptian crowns.

On this occasion a friend of mine wanted back up in a ‘lively discussion’ about mushrooms and they were aware that we are keen mycologists in our recreational time. The outcome of that inauspicious experience was my deciding to read this paper. And then, after the trauma counselling, to wonder why no-one who was qualified to do so had shot this shoddy piece right out of the water … in writing.

Which brings me to the ‘Entheomycological Origin of Egyptian Crowns’ by Stephen Berlant, ‘independent researcher’.

This paper was published in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology in 2005, but this in a way should come as no surprise. As no self respectin…